A Black Story
by twinnersarewinners
Summary: Halley Potter is new at Hogwarts. Luckily she has her brother and his band of friends, as well as a spunky redhead to help show her the ranks through these dark times.
1. New School, New Me

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

My alarm goes off at 6:30 like I set it for, sadly. I wanted to reach and turn it off. The down side was that I was far too lazy to reach for it.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

I forgot for a moment that it gets louder if you don't turn it off right away. That's when I shot up through the pillows that had been on my head through the night and smacked the obnoxious, beeping clock. Except, it didn't shut off.

BBEEEEEEPPPP. BBEEEEEEPPPP. BBEEEEEEPPPP. BBEEEEEEPPPP.

I reach for the alarm and rip in out of the socket in the wall to stop from waking everyone else in the family up. And in the process, I fell out of bed.

"AGOREORNOIUAFJAJGHAOR," That's the noise I made. I know. I'm so attractive.

I'm also quite generous, right? Not wanting to wake up the fam just because I'm getting up?

I wish I could say that.

I just wanted to get some hot water in my shower seen as how usually my brother wastes it all.

I also didn't want to face his friends again. I'd met them once, the summer between first and second year. Back then I was all hair and no personality.

Most summers I spent with my friends, traveling, going to the beach, or whatever else we decided sounded fun. It's not that I didn't like my brother or my friends, I just didn't want that to be anyone's memory of me. I didn't just want to be known as James' sister.

James is obviously my brother, James Potter. My name is Halley. He can somehow manage to be the most embarrassing little shit on the planet while also being the funniest. I mean we are quite the same when it comes to antics in and out of the classroom.

But I didn't want to go to the same school as him. Especially not boarding school. I mean, we got along most of the time, I just didn't want everyone to refer to me as "James' sister." I know I will most likely never live up to his abilities in anything, and because of that, I wanted to make my own legacy at my own school.

That backfired a bit…

I don't really wanna talk about it.

Anyways, I managed to miss James and his friends last night, seen as how they didn't get in until after I'd already gone to bed. But I knew I'd have to finally re-meet them again at some point today.

So I dragged my lazy butt out of bed and headed towards the stairs. I was getting excited for the eggs and bacon I had just decided to cook myself and bounded down the stairs with ease and grace. And by that, of course I mean I missed the last step and fell flat on my face. While collecting myself from my near death experience, I heard a low chuckle come from the living room to my left.

As I turned on my heel to greet James, I was greeted by Not James. This boy was slightly taller, had longer hair, and was immensely more attractive. His eyes sparkled like emeralds and his abs looked as if they were chiseled from marble.

How did I know his abs were amazing?

He was naked.

Okay he wasn't naked.

He was half-naked, though, wearing only red and gold striped boxers.

When I looked back at his face, he was chuckling. I realized that he must've seen me check him out… a lot… so I blushed and spun back around on my path for the kitchen, not really caring or remembering who this hotty was, i.e., lying to myself on a deep level.

"Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer," Hotty Pants called after me in his hypnotizing voice. I stopped and rolled my eyes, trying to think of a comeback. As I spun back around, I watched his eyes trace up my torso, or rather my boobs. I looked down and realized I was in my usual sleeping attire- sports bra and spandex shorts. When he finally met my gaze, he smiled cheekily and color rushed to his face.

"Pot and kettle much?" I responded without a stutter, which was impressive for me. He chucked again, his laugh mocking that of an angel's.

I never do this with boys why am I doing this ughhh.

He's just so pretty.

I obviously had deduced that this was one of James' friends, and that scared me. Who knew the awful things he'd said about me to this guy? The Cupcake Incident of our 5th birthday? The snot rocket from our play when we were eight? Or the horrid story of my first kiss? Shit shit shit shit.

But then I thought some more and was busy pondering a very important question.

Why was this hotty-with-a-swimmer's-body hanging out with James of all people? There had to be something wrong with him.

Okay, I'll admit, I'm giving James a really hard time. He's honestly a really cool brother and I love him-

"Hey Halley, why are you dressed like a stripper?" James asked, greeting me in the same attire as his friend.

"Morning James," his companion answered with a grin. "Is this your secret girlfriend? Why haven't you told me about her? She's got great knockers!"

I scoffed at him and crossed my arms across my body protectively.

"Dude that's my sister! Gross." James replied as he sat in our comfy armchair and grabbed the Daily Prophet. His friend scrunched up his face and looked at me with confusion.

"I'm sorry, this is your sister? The one we met a few years back? The skinny little string-bean girl has turned into this?" he asked, still in disbelief. I could feel myself blushing a bit out of embarrassment.

"Okay, I might have gained a bit of weight since then but it is not polite for you to point it out," I stated and attempted to cover more of my body with my arms.

"No, no that's not what I'm saying at all," he said in an overly-suggestive way as James, again, looked disgusted.

"Dude, gross." He replied before going back to his reading.

"Didn't you go to some weird school in like Germany or something?" he asked, totally ignoring James.

"First of all, Ilvermorny is in the States. Second, it is no weirder than your school," I pointed out, putting the emphasis on 'your'.

"You contradicted your own point by saying its name. What kind of a name is 'Iverhorny' anyway?" he asked and James snorted loudly.

"Ilvermorny-," I started but this weirdo cut me off again.

"Ivory Horny-,"

"Ilverymorny-,"

"After Torny?"

"Ilvermorny and if you say it wrong one more time I'll vanish you and never bring you back." I stated and he scoffed.

"Yeah, okay. We don't learn that shit until this year, smart-ass." I rolled my eyes.

"Looks like my weird school is better than yours." I muttered sarcastically and started to walk towards the kitchen again.

"So besides having a weird name, what else does this school do?" he asked as he took a seat at one of the stools at the kitchen counter.

"Okay, don't even get me started. Hogwarts sounds like some weird STD. But I mean, we probably do all the all the things you do, although at a higher level, apparently." I replied widening my eyes in disappointment.

"Besides the obvious lies your telling yourself about the greatest place in the entire world, why didn't you just go to the same school as James. I looked over at my dear brother, who was attempting to turn the page of the Prophet. He kept trying to separate two of the pages as to get to the next one, to no avail. When he did finally get ahold of a single page, he ended up ripping it and giving up.

"That's why." I told him with a point. It was a lie but I wasn't about to tell a total stranger my reasons.

"Yeah, laugh all you want. You have to deal with this," he began from his seat in the living room, gesturing to his entire body, "all next year. And the year after that. And the year after that."

"Wait, you're coming to Hogwarts this year?" the boy questioned with a hopeful smirk. I sighed and nodded as he celebrated quietly. I didn't want to, really. I had no preference to where I learnt how to control my magic because in reality, a school's a school. I just didn't want to be overshadowed by James the whole time. But thanks to my "rebellious attitude", my mother thought it would be best to go to the same school as James. She had some weird inclination that we would behave around each other. Which, knowing us, will probably go the opposite way of what she thinks.

"Come to the dark side, we have chocolate. Unless James eats it all." He stated, seductively making hand motions. I looked at him with a bit of disgust but also, attempting to hold back laughter. "But seriously, why are you all of a sudden coming to a school you claim to be full of STD's?" he asked, picking at the grapes residing in a bowl on the counter.

"You need to work on your listening skills. I said the name sounded like an STD, not that it was full of them. It's not, is it?" I asked, and he shook his head while chuckling at my response. "I kind of, sort of, got kicked out of Ilvermorny." I told him and he widened his eyes before smirking.

"What'd you do?" he asked and I scrunched my face up in fake remembrance.

"Hmmm," I tapped at my chin with one hand while the other rested on my hip. "You know. It's slipping my mind." I told him, moving the hand from tapping my chin to also residing on my hip. The weirdo got up from his place and started poking my arm with a dorky grin spread across his face and repeating the question. James, luckily, walked in to ruin his fun.

"She pulled a stupid prank and they're all sticks in the mud," he said as he sat down at the counter next to where his friend was sitting. With his question finally answered, he sat back down in his seat with one final chuckle. I finally had heated the pan enough to put the bacon on and did so as I continued to get interviewed by the most invasive reporters.

"What was the prank?" the boy ask, pushing hair out of his face. James gave me a curious look.

"Wow, I don't know what it is either…" he said and I laughed to myself before turning back to them, whisked eggs in hand.

"Nope. I'm not telling you. And don't bother asking mum and dad either because they're too disgusted with me to talk about it." I stuck my tongue out at them jokingly when they gave me funny looks.

"Oh c'mon, getting expelled from a stupid school a billion miles away isn't that bad." He stupidly stated.

"Except, it is. And I wasn't expelled, I was asked to leave." I corrected him, pointing at him with my spatula. James rolled his eyes in response while his friend shrugged his shoulders, considering the comparison.

The bacon in my pan started to quiet down, so I flipped it over and a smell sent to Earth by the Gods filled the kitchen, exciting James and his still unnamed friend.

"That smells amazing. You want some, Padfoot?" James asked his friend, not taking his eyes off my bacon.

Padfoot? What the hell kind of name is that?

"Sounds perfect, Prongs," 'Padfoot' answered as he mimicked James' expression and interest in my bacon.

Prongs? Like the cooking utensils?

"Awesome. Hals, can you make us some?" James begged, even putting on the puppy dog face and with his pleading voice.

"Hells no." I exclaimed and piled the bacon onto a plate, entirely intended for me.

A new voice came from behind me. "Halley, be polite and make your brother and his friends some bacon," my dad ordered as he flicked his wand at the coffee maker.

"Friends? As in plural?" I said with astonishment. I knew that he'd brought home more than one, I just wanted to make me cooking for him as uncomfortable as possible. James stuck his tongue out at me while dad was looking and gave me the finger while he wasn't. I returned the gesture.

"I'm just as surprised as you are," 'Padfoot' responded.

"Yes, assholes, friends. There's three of them. Please make us bacon. We want bacon." James demanded, causing his friend to smirk. My dad shook his head before looking at James.

"Language, son."

"Sorry dad." 'Padfoot tried to cover up his laugh with coughing. Then my dad turned to me.

"And Halley, stop being so rude. Also, put some clothes on." He took his freshly brewed cup of coffee to the living room and the Daily Prophet floated off the counter after him.

NO ONE UNDERSTANDS ME.

"Hey Prongs, you know what goes good with bacon? Some eggs." The boy said and James laughed, while still nodding back at him.

"You're lucky that you guys are even getting bacon. Don't push your luck." I muttered, spreading the bacon evenly onto five plates.

That's when another new voice came from behind me.

Halley, stop being so rude and make this nice young boy some eggs," my mother scolded as she poured herself some coffee magically while also getting another pan out for the eggs I was now forced to make.

I death-glared at James. "You're so lucky mummy's here to protect you."

I know my mom heard me but she decided to ignore me anyways. It was her idea for James' friends to come over for the next few days. She thought it'd be good for me to get to know some of the other people I'd be going to school with over the next few years other than my brother. I wouldn't have minded it so much had she not phrased it as a "playdate".

"How did you boys sleep?" my mum asked.

"Wonderfully, thank you Mrs. Potter." 'Padfoot' responded with a million dollar grin.

"Weren't there two more yesterday, James?"

"Yeah, they're probably still sleeping," James responded while watching my movements carefully as I worked on making his eggs. The guy probably thought I was gonna do something to his food if he looked away. Boy was he right.

Sadly, he never did look away.

"Halley, have you met James' other friends?" Mum asked, rubbing my back soothingly. That usually meant she was about to go full-blown mother bear, something that only happens once a summer, if even that. And it was about to happen with me.

Shit.

"Uh, just this one," I replied, still slaving away for James' eggs while also trying to silently usher mum out of the room.

Unfortunately, she returned her attention to my darling brother and his friend.

"Well, Halley's just a little nervous about her first day in a new school. Most people don't change schools like this, especially not during the O.W.L. year. But, due to her lack of respect for school officials and property, her father and I decided to send her to Hogwarts, where perhaps, you'd be willing to help show her the way of things?" I felt like I was about to die. First off, I wasn't nervous. Secondly, I couldn't believe my mum was babying me like that. James and this guy I'd never met were looking like they were about to burst into a fit of laughter at any moment but James pulled himself together for a couple sentences.

"Of course, mum! We would be happy to!" Both him and his friend cracked up as soon as mum left the room with a thank you, a ruffle of James' hair, and a smile.

"Fuck you both," I said pointedly. Dad's voice came from the living room now.

"Watch your language, young lady."

Damn this house and its open-floor plan.

"Don't worry Halley. We'll take great care of you." The new guy said with a wink and a chuckle. That's when the thudding of people coming down the stairs started and two more boys appeared in the kitchen. I only got a thank you from one of the boys and none of them introduced themselves. And with that, the entirety of my food was scarfed down in a matter of minutes, and the room kept becoming increasingly louder. If a Muggle fighter jet flew through the kitchen, I don't think anyone would've noticed.

After ten minutes of not a glance in my direction, James decided he should probably introduce to the new members of this little posse.

"Hey Hal," he hollered at me, forcing me to look up from " _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them"_ and actually make eye contact with him. "C'mere." He said with a wave of his hand.

I trudged over to him sourly, still upset he didn't save me any food. "What?" I asked bitterly.

"So, do we look alike?" he asked as we both looked at his barnyard gang of weird friends. A short and plump blond boy who looked like he would shit his pants at the drop of a pin. A taller, thinner boy who seemed quite distant. And of course, the first one I'd met.

Who needs names anyways?

"Ehhh your eyes and facial features are similar but other than that, not really." The thin one said with a shrug. The plump one just nodded.

"Yeah mate, it's really hard to compare seen as how she's much prettier than you and you know. Boobs." The first one said and all of them laughed as James punched him in the arm. Again, the plump one just nodded.

"Wow so you finally talked about me." I said with mock surprise, giving him a fake, gratuitous stare. He rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. I highly doubt you ever actually mentioned me to your friends."

"You've met all my friends and you met them in first year, so don't give me that shit," I stated and he shrugged admittedly.

"Yeah, they're hot too. I'm gonna miss having them around." He laughed as I trudged away again.

Merlin save me, this is going to be a long year.

Hey guys! So I have written this story before but with another account. Sadly, after the long (more than three year) break I took from writing this story to focus on school, I have gotten a new computer and lost my password :( But I still wanted to write this story because I still love this idea (although I have also become partial towards Remus/Sirius pairings). Please let me know what you think or if you have any questions! R&R! ~~ Non ~~


	2. Platform What?

"Halley just go, we're all gonna be late if you don't!" James shouted at me as I stood there with my satchel, staring at barrier between platforms 9 and 10. They wanted me to run at it. By they, I mean my brother, parents and my brother's friends.

"This is a prank that you have mom and dad in on. Honestly, it's a pretty good one too but I'm not falling for it." I told them all and crossed my arms. "If there really is a platform 9 ¾ then there's got to be a more realistic way to get to it."

"Um no, this is the way. Just walk through. You're not going to hit the barrier. You'll be okay. Just go." James stated as patiently as possible. I could tell he was really getting upset but he was hiding it better than usual.

"I still don't believe you." I said flatly and looked at them all.

"Fine, I'll go first just so you don't get your knickers in a twist," The first guy I'd met, who I learned was named Sirius, offered as he ran his hand through his hair, took a few steps back with his cart, and ran towards the barrier. I threw my hands up to my eyes as he reached the barrier. But where he should've hit it and crashed back down, he vanished.

I was awestruck.

Then the moron stuck his head back through the bricks, laughing and waving, without a care as to whether or not Muggles could see. It was truly a miracle, but I still felt like I was being played and stood there, even after the dumbo vanished again.

Because it didn't look like I was going to go any time soon, James decided to give me… a little encouragement.

"Halley, if you aren't through the barrier in the next 20 seconds, I'm going to tell everyone at Hogwarts about the Cupcake Incident of our 5th birthday party."

Shit. I was daft to not think that word would eventually get out. You still don't need to know though…

So I sucked in a big breath of air to calm myself down and ran towards the barrier, closing my eyes when I should've hit it. That was stupid, seen as how I plowed into Sirius shortly after flying through the fake barrier. I almost crashed to the ground but thankfully, he caught us both without falling and placed me back upright.

"Not the most graceful, are you?" he asked smiling.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I told him with lots of sarcasm.

I did finally learn all their names. The first one I met, the hot one who wasn't wearing a shirt, was Sirius. The other two were Remus and Peter. But here's the weird part: they never call each other by their real names. They have secret code names like in one of those dumb Muggle movies.

Sirius' nickname is Assfoot, probably because he's like an asshole except stinkier because he's a foot too. Except, he doesn't stink. I know this because I was just in his arms and boy does he smell good.

Remus' nickname is Moody, probably because he has random mood swings.

Peter's is Worm Pail. He must like to fish or something.

And James' is Thongs because he likes to imagine that he gets laid by hot chicks a lot.

Now I know these aren't the real names but that's how ridiculous they sound to me.

As the rest of our posse filed in through the Barrier of Death, Sirius decided to fill James' spot temporarily as the annoyance in my life.

"They do it a little differently at Ilvermorny, do they?" He asked with a smile toying at his lips.

"Just a little." I replied rolling my eyes a little at his sarcasm. "My dad had to apparate with me to Boston and from there, we'd take a ship that was bigger on the inside than out. It would take off and fly us to where the school actually was in Massachusetts. Any Muggles in the area would just see a flock of birds."

"Nu-uh." He exclaimed with wide eyes. "You're messing with me. A flying ship?"

"It's true! Ask my dad. James came to see me off one year, they leave on August 20th."

"That's so unfair!" He laughed, calling the attention of a few bystanders. "We ride a stupid train for eight hours and you get to ride in a flying ship?"

"8 HOURS?!" If there were a few people looking before, anyone in earshot was listening now. I might have had a heart attack. That is not what my parents made it sound like. "Oh don't worry sweety, it's just a short train ride and you'll be there in no time." Bullshit. I call bullshit. Eight motherfucking hours. What the hell.

"Woah calm down. Was it a lot shorter for Ivery Horny?" He started taking my mocking thing and I don't like it.

"Hell yes. You get on the ship for like an hour tops and then hop off and POOF. You're at Ivermorny." I explained with a dramatic hand movement on the word "POOF."

"Merlin, that'd be nice," he replied as the last of our crew popped through the brick wall.

"It's time to say goodbye!" James yelled over the crowds at Sirius and I.

"Thank you so much for welcoming us into your home, Mr. and Mrs. Potter," Remus said with a hug to each of them, Sirius and Peter not far behind.

"It was our pleasure! Please, visit any time you want!" Mum said while dad nodded in agreement. The three boys started weaving their way towards the train while James and I said goodbye.

"Jamsie! Please try not to get hurt too much in Quidditch this year! I don't want to have to visit the Hospital Wing again," Mum told him and kissed his cheek affectionately.

"I'll try," he replied, face changing color and shoving his hands in his pockets.

"And Hals, please don't get pregnant. We don't need that kind of stress," she said and kissed the top of my head.

"Kind of hard when boys find me intimidating," I stated and she let out a small laugh.

"Son, don't get us called to the Headmaster's office again because your pranks are out of hand," Dad told him with a hand on his shoulder before giving him a "manly hug".

"Same goes for you Hals. Also try to keep the money-spending to a minimum."

"No promises," I told him and gave him hug as he chuckled lightly.

"Be good! Go on now, or you'll miss the train!" Mum said, pushing James and me away from them. I gave them both a small wave, nod, and blew them both kisses before turning back around and facing the train attendant in front of me.

"Your bags, ma'am?" He asked me, holding out his arms.

"No, this is it for me," I replied, patting my satchel.

"Are you sure you won't need any clothes? Hogsmeade shopping can get very expensive," he pointed out, stopping me with his arm.

"All of my clothes are in here," I told him. There was an Undetectable Extension Charm on the bag. That way, I could carry as much with me whenever I wanted and no one would be able to tell the difference. Mum gave it to me for my tenth birthday so I could take my books with me anywhere. I was a nerd.

He gave me a weird look but nodded and let me on the train. Although the mix-up caused me to be one of the last people aboard and therefore I had two options. Sit with two strangers in their compartment, or James and his friends.

Anyone is better than James.

I looked around, in almost every single compartment, but alas, there was only one with minimal people.

So I slid the door to the compartment with a pretty red-headed girl and a greasy black-haired boy sitting on the same side open.

"Do you mind if I sit here? Everywhere else is full," I asked, smiling.

The boy looked as if he was about to say no but the girl just smiled and nodded at me so I paid more attention to her and sat down. Not wanting to chit-chat, I took out my book, _History of Hogwarts,_ and got comfy. The two across from me continued the conversation they were having before I interrupted.

"So you're not nervous for the OWLs at all?" the red-head asked the other guy.

I should really learn their names.

"Not really," he said, shaking his head.

"I'm afraid they're gonna be so hard, I'm not gonna be able to take it," she replied with a nervous chuckle.

I thought "that's what she said," but then realized that actually saying it may not be the best idea.

"Oh they won't be that bad," the boy ran his hand through his hair and shook his head again.

"You only think that because you're so good at everything."

He smiled at the compliment and quickly replied, "You are too, so you have nothing to worry about. I'm more interested to see how many times Potter can ask you out before Christmas."

The sound of my name made me start paying more attention to the conversation.

"Why?" she laughed. "It's not as if I'm going to say yes."

"You don't know that, he could actually manage to woo you one of these times." The boy had the most disgusted look plastered to his face. "Remember when almost set the Potions classroom on fire just so when the explosion happened he could try and arrange the smoke to say "go out with me.""

"Like that annoying twat could woo anyone," she said as her laughs continued to echo off the walls of the compartment.

"Finally!" I interjected, shouting to the world. "Someone who agrees with me."

"Do you know Potter?" the girl asked, looking a little confused.

"Very well actually," I told her. "I'm his sister."

"Yeah right," the boy replied with a sarcastic grin on his face.

"I'm his twin actually. He's been obnoxious since the day he was born and I was beginning to think that I was the only one who could see it," I said and the boy didn't look like he believed me yet. The girl did not have that same problem.

"I am so sorry! It must suck to have to live with him," she told me and I laughed nodding.

"He smells like feet constantly," I replied without hesitation. She giggled again.

"My name is Lily by the way. Lily Evans. And this is Severus Snape." The boy gave me an awkward nod.

"Nice to meet you guys. I'm Halley."

"So Halley," Severus started. "Tell us more about the horrors of living with James Potter."

See mum? I didn't need James to make friends!

Well I mean, I didn't need to rely on him… well, his presence anyway.

~O-O~

When we finally arrived at the school, there was a big hairy guy there to greet us. At first I thought he was a giant but I always heard that giants were like twenty feet tall and this guy was maybe eight or nine.

"First-years this way, everyone else to the carriages! And is there a Halley Potter here? I'm looking for a Halley Potter!" The big guy yelled over the crowd of people.

I decided to take my chances and go over to see exactly why I was needed.

"Hi," I felt like I practically had to shout for him to hear me. "I'm Halley Potter."

"Good! I know you're not a first-year but it is your first year here at Hogwarts, am I correct?" he asked and I nodded nervously.

"Well we have a tradition here for your first year so although it might be a bit of a shock towards your ego, join the first-years please," he told me and I reluctantly joined the swarm of munchkins people call children. As I was walking with the group, I passed James and his posse who all laughed uncontrollably at the sight of me with the small people. I flipped him the bird and one of the tiny tots widened his mouth at me in disgust and I stuck my tongue out at him.

Damn kids.

After all the commotion of rounding up the twerps, the big guy finally came over again.

"Welcome firs- I mean new students!" He said as he gave a shy look in my direction. "It is my great pleasure to welcome you to Hogwarts. My name is Rubeus Hagrid and I am the groundskeeper here. For everyone's first year at the school, it is a tradition that you ride in boats across the Black Lake to Hogwarts. You get to see a whole other side of the school that you wouldn't be able to see otherwise. So if you will," he gestured towards the boats floating in the water next to us.

We all got in warily.

"How do we move? You haven't given us any paddles," a cunning little firsty pointed out. I honestly would have never thought of that. I just would've sat here wondering why it wasn't moving.

"You don't need paddles," Hagrid told us. "You'll see."

We all waited for each other to get accustomed to the boats and then all of a sudden, my boat started moving away from the shore. I seemed to be the only person who was surprised by this.

"BLOO-dy hell!" I shouted and the eleven year-olds in my boat gave me judging glares.

At first, the travel across the lake was foggy and no one could see much more than five feet in front of them. But as we pushed on, the fog started to clear and we had the most amazing view of the most amazing castle. Some of the windows of the castle were glowing with yellow, flickering candle-light and it had an eerie but beautiful feel to it. You could tell everyone else was as amazed as I was because a chorus of "Oooh's" and "Woah's" echoed across the lake. I looked at the Big Friendly Kind-of Giant and he had a knowing grin on his face. Just as I was starting to think that maybe this school wouldn't be so bad after all, tentacles shot out of the water right in front of us.

"MOTHERFU-DGER!" I exclaimed, stopping myself from letting loose in front of young people, who again gave me judgmental looks. Hagrid just shook his head as more tentacles shot out of the water and floated by the boats.

Again, why am I the only one shocked by this?

"Don't worry folks, it's just the resident of the Black Lake. He's harmless unless you play tricks or pranks on him and anger him. A few students found that out the hard way," he told everyone who giggled at the story. I just thought back to the letter mom and dad got from James during the school-year one year saying that he had played a prank on the wrong aquatic creature and had to spend almost a week in the Hospital Wing because of it.

As soon as we reached the other side, a tall, older woman dressed all in green with a pointy hat greeted us. She seemed scary.

"Greetings first-years," she announced with a look at me. "Good evening, Miss Potter, how was your ride in?"

"The train ride was long and a squid almost killed me but other than that, great." I chuckled and so did she.

"Just like your brother. Try not to cause as much trouble as him though," she told me with a peer over her spectacles. "Now everyone, if you would please follow me to the Great Hall!"

We did. Through winding halls and up many, many, many, many stairs.

I hate stairs.

After what seemed like an eternity, we finally reached a set of big iron doors. That's when the lady- who I found out to be named McGonagall- stopped.

"In a moment we will travel through these doors and you will all be sorted into your houses," she told us and some of these ickle firsties looked as if they were about to pee themselves. "There are Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor, and Slytherin," she stated calmly as if those were actual words. "If you please," she gestured at the doors and the pack started moving.

As soon as we entered the room, I was blown away for the second time in one night. Inside were four long tables with students lining each of the tables. Looking closely at the students, their ties differed by the table they were at. I guessed that this represented those four made up words she said to us. The ceiling of the room wasn't really a ceiling. I mean, it was but it just didn't look like it. It looked like the sky but it wouldn't be safe if it was actually the sky…

Anyway, I looked at the head table and was in quiet amazement.

Albus freaking Dumbledore.

This was a weird school, man.

"Welcome, welcome," he spoke quieter than I anticipated. "First-years, it is time for your sorting ceremony. You will sit on the stool in front of me and Professor McGonagall will place the sorting hat on your head. It will determine your house and that house is the place where you will spending your days at Hogwarts. They will be like your family," he stated. "Minerva, if you will."

McGonagall nodded her head and she started reading names from a list.

"Jordan Applebee!"

A little kid who looked about ready to puke stumbled up to the stool and sat down. When the hat was placed on his head, nothing happened for a few seconds and then-

"RAVENCLAW!" the hat yelled.

Wait, what? Am I going crazy or did the hat just talk?

No one else seemed phased by it and turning around, I noticed the people with the blue ties standing and cheering as little Jordan Applebee raced smiling over to them.

I let my eyes wander out of curiosity and they eventually landed on James and his gang. They waved like little princesses, mocking my situation. My eyes turned into narrow slits as I glared at them. More names were being called and more yelling from the hat and more cheering from the respective tables. Finally, my name was called.

"Halley Potter!"

There was chatter amongst the tables.

Was James really that popular?

I sat down on the stool and the hat was placed on my head. Instead of just shouting out the name of the house I was supposed to be in, it talked quietly in my ear. I jumped at the sound.

"Another Potter? Good luck to this school. You're a bigger trouble-maker than him when you want to be. You're also very ambitious, but you're definitely not a Slytherin. You're very smart but you don't like to learn, so not Ravenclaw. Loyalty only lies with your friends so not Hufflepuff. But you are brave and that is clear," his whispering stopped an that's when he yelled.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The table that James was sitting at stood and cheered as they did for the little firsties that were called out and as I neared their table, I noticed the colors on their ties.

Red and gold. Like Sirius' boxers.

Haha what? Who said that…

"Good job not being a disappointment!" James exclaimed and I punched him in the arm and sat down between him and Sirius.

What? I can't say it one more time?

After all the first-years were seated at their respective tables, Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement.

"I have a feeling that this is going to be a great year," he started and everyone clapped. "I know you all are hungry but just a few announcements to make before our feast. The Forbidden Forest is- as the name implies- forbidden…" his voice trailed off as Sirius started whispering in my ear.

"All of these rules are just guidelines… We don't follow them and we've turned out okay," he whispered, his voice hot on my hair. I turned to face him and we almost bumped noses from the proximity.

I'm not complaining though.

"'Okay' is a bit of an over-statement, don't you think?" I mocked him in a hushed tone and noticed his smile reflected mine.

"That's rich from somebody who just spent their entire night with a load of first-years."

"Your company consists of my brother and two others. And you call each other by secret code names like in a Muggle spy movie."

"What's a movie?" his face turned puzzled and I snorted at his ignorance.

"And now I would like to welcome a new student whom you might have noticed up here with the first-years, Halley Potter. She has just changed schools from Ilvermorny School for Witchcraft and Wizardry and will be joining our fifth-year students," Dumbledore stated as the mention of my name brought my attention back to him. I smiled and felt the stares of a good hundred people on me, making my face burn with embarrassment. I tried to cover my face with my hands and Sirius chuckled.

"No need to be embarrassed, Hals," he said, whispering in my ear again and rubbing my back with his hand.

I laughed lightly and smiled at him. When I looked to my other side, James was smiling at me too.

"Let the feast, BEGIN!" Dumbledore shouted and he waved his hands. Doing so caused all the silver plates in front of us to fill with food, making me wonder where it all came from. Chicken, turkey, potatoes, green beans, and much more were all laid out in front of us and I was disappointed in myself.

I picked at a few pieces of chicken and some green beans all dinner but wasn't hungry enough for a full meal. Instead, I was taking in my surroundings and people-watching. I noticed that flying above my table was a gold and red flag with a lion on it that I didn't notice before. It must be our 'mascot'. The others were a green and silver snake, blue and grey eagle and a yellow and black badger thing. And not surprisingly, I was oblivious to all of that beforehand. Lily Evans, the girl from the train, was sitting a few people down from me, talking with a few other girls and laughing. Sirius and I ended up switching seats so I wouldn't be in the middle of their conversation about Merlin knows what. I tried to look for that Severus kid but he wasn't sitting at our table. I began gazing at the others, finding him at the green and silver table.

"Hey James, what's the green and silver table?" I asked.

With a mouth full of food, he responded.

"Some of 'em are alright. But most of 'em are nasty blokes. Prolly gonna become Death Eaters after this." He replied and Sirius clenched up a little bit.

"My family wanted me to end up there. But I told them to fuck off. Gryffindor is much better." He ended with a grin.

"They've also beaten us in the Quidditch Cup the past four years." James sneered as he brought a piece of chicken up to his mouth.

"That's not going to happen again while I'm around to stop it," I said calmly and Sirius' eyes watched me with interest. Not like fake interest either, actual interest. That's new.

"Oh really? And why is that?" he asked as he popped a piece of chicken into his mouth.

"Because you've got me now. Duh," I said as the dinner food on our table disappeared and desserts appeared in their place. I reached for a Treacle Tart.

"YOU play Quidditch? What, are you a cheerleader? I didn't think there was a position for the mentally challenged…" he tried to shove a few too many insults in there and none of them made sense together.

"Whatever you just said, I'm going to disregard because I happen to be a more than capable Chaser for you lot," I said and he just laughed.

"Sorry sweety, but we already have three Chasers. Marlene McKinnon, Susan Wu, and Grady McLaggen," he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"And obviously that combination hasn't been working out too well for you all as of late. It could be time for a change. Oh and don't call me sweety, got that honey?" I said mockingly and he nodded his head with a laugh, returning to his meal.

~O-O~

After dinner, everyone started standing up and walking out of the Great Hall.

"Where are the dorms?" I asked James who had turned some Hufflepuff girl's hair pink with no one noticing yet.

"Seventh floor," he stated absolutely. Excuse me? No. I am not walking up a million stairs after dinner to get to my bed.

This school is honestly just turning into one big joke.

I tried to catch up with Lily to see how many sleeping arrangements worked in the dorms.

"Lily! Wait up!" I called and she turned to look who was calling, smiling when she saw it was me.

"Hey Halley! How was dinner?" she asked, trying to make casual chit-chat as her friend looked at me, obviously confused.

"It was great, but now I have to walk up five hundred flights of stairs and I might die," I said, us both laughing. "Hi, I'm Halley," I added, turning to the other girl, who smiled at my introduction.

"I'm Alice Prewett," she responded. I turned back to Lily.

"So how do the dorm arrangements work here?" I asked.

"All the girls in the same year and same house share a dorm," she stated and Alice nodded in agreement.

"How many of us are there?" There were 50 girls in each year at Ilvermorny and if that was the same way here, I wasn't going to make it through the year with all of my hair or a clean record.

"Six, including you," she said and I thought I missed a syllable.

"Six-ty?" I asked and they both chuckled.

"No, six. You know, comes between five and seven?" she replied, taking note of my confusion.

"Merlin, that's nothing compared to my old- AGGGHHHHHH!"

We were walking up a flight of stairs, I assumed to go up to our dorms. But as we reached the halfway point of this specific flight, the entire set of stairs began to move and I fell backwards from the confusion.

Thankfully… Or maybe not so thankfully… Guess who was there to catch me.

Sirius.

"Wow, if you want me Hals, just say so," he laughed and winked and set me down as James and the others laughed as well at my helplessness. I was embarrassed for like the second time in a few hours and was not so happy.

"It's not funny! Why are the fucking stairs MOVING?" I asked also angry that this was the second time today I was saved from falling on my face by the same person.

"Because that's what they do here. Just be careful from now on," he said giving me a knowing glance as I hopped back up by Lily and Alice.

"Are you okay?" they both asked trying to swallow a laugh and failing to do so.

"Yeah I'm fine, laugh it up," I said and they did. For practically the rest of the walk.

This is one fucked up school.

AN: More chapters! More chapters! I have so many more to give you guys and I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed writing them! ~~Non~~


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